London Fashion Week September 2016 Is Open For Business

London Fashion Week September 2016 (16th – 20th September) will welcome over 5,000 guests from 58 countries showing that London and the UK is a major player on the global stage.

New figures released in June 2016 show that the British Fashion Industry’s worth to the British economy has increased 8% from £26billion to £28billion. This growth is greater than that of the UK GDP which only grew 5% in the same period. Employment has increased from 790,000 to 880,000 – double the national average, with growth in retail, manufacturing and wholesale (Oxford Economics, 2016).

London Fashion Week September 2016 Schedule

The LFW schedule is as strong as ever. The 64th edition of LFW will feature 83 designers showcasing SS17 collections on the schedule and over 150 in the Designer Showrooms at Brewer Street Car Park.

This season LFW welcomes back international brands MM6 and VERSUS. Sharon Wauchob will be joining the schedule for the first time and Huishan Zhang, Molly Goddard and Teatum Jones will all be showing catwalks for the first time. Designers showcasing with presentations for the first time include Aquascutum, Globe-Trotter, Malone Souliers, Paula Knorr, Piers Atkinson and ROBERTS|WOOD.

LFW has always embraced the changes in the fashion industry. This season Burberry will be presenting its menswear and womenswear collections together for the first time and will be immediately available to buy. Oliver Spencer will be showing a menswear consumer event at LFW and Kent & Curwen will be doing menswear appointments. Fyodor Golan, House of Holland and TOPSHOP UNIQUE will be showing see-now buy-now. Also showing menswear alongside womenswear at LFW will be Aquascutum, Belstaff, Joseph and Teatum Jones (this year’s Woolmark Womenswear winner who will open LFW).

Facts and Figures

•£28billion direct contribution to the UK economy (GDP) from the UK fashion industry, up from £26billion in 2013 (Oxford Economics, 2014)
•£27billion worth of womenswear (RTW) sales in the UK in 2015. This figure is predicted to grow 23% by 2020 to £32billion (Mintel, 2016)
•£1million worth of pro-bono support provided to BFC designers by BFC partners and mentors with over 10,000 hours of support provided in 2015
•880,000 jobs supported by the UK fashion industry, up from 797,000 in 2013 (Oxford Economics, 2014)
•£12.4billion spent on fashion online in the UK in 2015, up 16% from £10.7billion in 2014 (Mintel, 2015)
•128,162 mentions of #LFW on Twitter during LFW in February
•75,000 images tagged #LFW on Instagram during LFW in February
•32,000 miles driven between shows by chauffeurs in fuel efficient Mercedes-Benz cars
•30,000 Lavazza espressos served and 200kg of Lavazza coffee beans used
•25,000 packs of PROPERCORN and brand new Crunch Corn eaten
•24,000 bottles of Evian Water drunk
•16,000 patches available at Brewer Street Car Park featuring designs by NEWGEN designers
•15,000 people travel internationally to and from London on Etihad Airways during LFW each season
•12,000 units of label.m products used backstage each season
•10,000 letters ready to personalise 4,000 LFW Sunglass Hut Tote Bags
•6,000 cans of Carabao Energy Drink onsite to energise London Fashion Week guests
•3,000 copies of ES Magazine read at LFW
•2,000 Scavi & Ray piccolo bottles served
•225 makeovers in the Maybelline New York Lounge
•180 hours manned on the Swatch LFW Timeline
•120 VIP press and buyers staying at The May Fair Hotel
•20 Ocean Outdoor screens across Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London Manchester and Newcastle will feature LFW content